[SummerLuv]

How in the world do I get Molly to walk down the stairs? She will walk up them but not down, instead she sits at the top of the stairs and cries for somebody to get her.

 

[Cosmotion]

How old? Cosmo would do the same thing, but over Thanksgiving, there were cats at the bottom of the stairs and he just HAD to play with them so he mustered up enough courage to descend the stairs. It was definitely a milestone.

I would suggest putting something within eyeshot that is simply irresistable to your dog. Maybe a bowl of food or a tasty treat... or a cat!

 

[HannaBanana]

How many stairs are we talking here?  If its a flight and she is still young, I would carry her for now.  Reason being if she is not comfortable walking down a flight i would not force it.   Also stairs at young age can contribute to some forms of HD (Hip Dysp).    We have a flight up to our house.  I carried Kash for a couple of months until he started to go down them himself.   Now he is a pro.

 

[SummerLuv]

She is 10 wks and there is about 12-13 stairs

 

[HannaBanana]

Yeah, I would carry her IMO - She is young and there my be fear of the decent of the stairs - which is common.

 

[SummerLuv]

Maybe  I should get her one of those chairlifts to get her up and down the stairs LOL The kind you see at churches. Its hard carrying her and everything else too... I shall overcome I suppose.

 

[HannaBanana]

Its hard carrying her and everything else too... I shall overcome I suppose

Trust me, you will geet used to it, think of it as a kid - for me, I tuck Kash under my arm (good use for my hips) carry him out as well as hold Hanna's lead and car keys.

Think of it like having a todler!!   However it may stink now, but beats vet bills if she falls or develops HD

 

[SummerLuv]

You took them out at the same time?  8O  Summer would have a wonderful time draggin us all over the place the minute she heard the dog next door bark. Im also scared of Summer stepping on her.

 

[JessiesMom]

Jessie didnt go down stairs until she was at least 4 months... she would go up though!

 

[DUKE01]

Duke wouldn't go down the basement steps, he was like 6 months old though (we don't go in the basement very often just to do laundry).  He would sit at the top and cry and howl, finally Adam when to the bottom of the steps and i helped him down, we did this for like a 1/2 hour before he could do it on his own.  Now he won't go up the stairs unless he is the last one, he squats alittle like he is reving up the ingine and then fires up the steps.  Its cute.

 

[SummerLuv]

Now he won't go up the stairs unless he is the last one, he squats alittle like he is reving up the ingine and then fires up the steps.  Its cute.

I actually lol'd to that.
I couldnt help but get a mental image.
Molly will go up them she just wont go down

 

[48Dodge]

The stair stories with greyhounds are usually pretty good.  Most come from the track around 3-5 years old and have never seen a flight of stairs in their lives.  Max was 3 when I got him and walked right up the stairs as soon as I got him home so I thought the stair thing wasn't going to apply to him.  But, when it came time for him to walk down the stairs, he decided to do the whole flight of 14 stairs in 3 strides.  I thought he'd killed himself for sure.  He gave me a funny look at the bottom like, "I'm pretty sure  that wasn't quite right".  After he learned indoor steps, he had to learn outdoor steps, too.  You know, the kind with only the steps and no risers.  He'd always go up about 2 steps then try to poke his head under the next one like he was going to walk through them.  Took several weeks of coaxing before he got those steps right.  So, once your pup learns indoor steps, you may still need to teach him outdoor steps, too.

 

[Skylar]

Lucy at 6 mos. would go up but we had to carry down- I think we did that for a few days and then she was flying up and down on her own. I think 10 wks is a bit small for stairs though - I would carry her.

 

[DUKE01]

[quote="SummerLuv\";p=\"58013":17uzys7e][quote="DUKE01\";p=\"58012":17uzys7e]Now he won't go up the stairs unless he is the last one, he squats alittle like he is reving up the ingine and then fires up the steps.

 

[zuesesmom]

We had to carry Zues up and down the stairs till he was about 13 weeks. He looked so clumsey and awkward ......poor little baby! We saw a big difference between 12-13 weeks of age. It seemed like that 12th week was a very big developmental growth spurt physically and mentally. Great way for a work out...hahaha

 

[SummerLuv]

I kinda figured that I would have to carry her for a while, I just wanted to make sure that it was normal.

 

[samsonsmom]

Buck & Tia had never seen stairs before we moved to Ireland, but they were grown enuf that I wasn't worried..Still was funny watching them figure it out...Heather gave you some good advice, I'd carry Molly for awhile, hard as it is, better to do that than worry about her hurting her joints....

 

[southerngirls]

neither of the girls had to ever deal with stairs before they came to us. Savannah came to us when she was two and she would do the same thing. Go up but not want to come back down. Well at first i carried her, but soon i was like "girl  you are WAYYYY to big for momma to be carrying you down these stairs!" i eventually babygated off the landing to where the only place she had to go is down...and left her. After about 10 min of just sitting on the top step she moved down and has not had problems since. Since you pup is only 10wks def carry her until she gets a little older.

 

[LokiMom]

The way I got Loki to go down the stairs is I would sit on the stairs and just slide down to each one and he would follow me. After the first couple of times he goes up and down by himself.